Joint business statement on the EU Proposal on Compulsory Licensing
We, a coalition of several European organizations, have been closely monitoring the developments regarding the EU Commission proposal for a regulation on EU compulsory licensing for crisis management[1]. As the Council prepares its position, it is important that the necessary time is taken to appropriately address key unresolved issues of the original proposal. While some improvements to the proposal were adopted by the European Parliament, including greater involvement of the rights-holder, a requirement for attempted voluntary licensing, and a reasoned approach to remuneration, there are other problematic provisions that remained, such as inadequate judicial review and forced technology transfer/trade secret sharing.
Business acknowledges and supports the need for preparedness in the face of future crises, which may take various forms such as health, environment, digitalisation, and climate change. It is crucial to ensure that society has access to crisis-relevant products or services. However, we firmly believe that, in its current form, this initiative will undermine innovation and competitiveness of European companies, ultimately impeding Europe’s ability to tackle future crises effectively. Weakening IP in this way also sets a negative precedent internationally. It is important to address the myth that IP stands in the way of innovation when it is the opposite. The COVID-19 crisis was an example of the business community’s willingness to contribute to a once in a century pandemic by having rightsholders voluntarily agreeing on licensing their rights. This was done under existing international, EU, and Member States frameworks which have largely demonstrated being fit to facilitate a quick solution to the crisis. Furthermore, knowledge-based industries need to be nurtured and protected should Europe want to strengthen its international competitiveness.
The current proposal raises fundamental concerns among the business community such as:
Quality should not be sacrificed for the sake of speed. This initiative should not mean reducing manufacturing standards that the Union has defined to ensure the right level of safety for EU patients and consumers, and for which competent authorities of the EU Member States are entrusted to supervise. We call on decision makers to ensure the principles of proportionality and subsidiarity, as well as legal certainty, are duly respected in this impactful legislation.
List of co-signatories:
BUSINESSEUROPE (https://www.businesseurope.eu/)
DIGITALEUROPE (https://www.digitaleurope.org/)
DIGITALEUROPE is the leading trade association representing digitally transforming EFPIA (https://www.efpia.eu/)
Eurochambres (https://www.eurochambres.eu/)
MedtechEurope (https://www.medtecheurope.org/about-us/)
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